Padmaavat: Why Mamata Banerjee's defence of free speech reeks of double standards
Elaborate security arrangements were made outside multiplexes and cinema halls in Kolkata even as plain-clothes policemen kept close vigil during the screening of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat (earlier titled Padmaavati) - a movie facing widespread protests by members of Rajput community over alleged wrongful portrayal of queen Padmini.
While each ticket holder was being thoroughly searched at the gate, senior police personnel were directed to tackle any kind of disturbances with an iron hand - be it a demonstration outside theatres or any form of "sponsored hooliganism".
In a nutshell, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government successfully managed a “smooth Day 1 run” for the controversial movie starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles even as incessant violent protests by members of Karni Sena continued to rock Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and other parts or northern India.
Welcome to the liberal universe of Mamata Banerjee where Padmaavat is welcome. But the same can't be said of Banerjee when it comes to a Taslima Nasreen or a Tarek Fatah. The CM’s effort to project herself as a liberal icon in Indian politics falls flat going by her track record over the past seven years.
It is definitely a welcome move by the firebrand chief minister who has suddenly become a born-again champion of art and cinema, precisely for the sake of freedom of expression. Commenting on the protest cries against Padmaavat, Banerjee, a day before its official release, said she would be happy if the movie was released in her state.
“I think the court has given its verdict and we all must respect the court's verdict… The BJP must control their organisations and must ask them to abide by the court verdict,” she told mediapersons at the state secretariat on Wednesday (January 24) evening.
Not too long ago, a seminar on refugees of Balochistan and Kashmir, which was scheduled to host Tarek Fatah as one of the speakers, was cancelled abruptly. The seminar, which was to be held in January last year at the Calcutta Club, was cancelled after officials shared apprehensions of “further law and order problems in the city”.
In a similar turn of events, in December 2013, Duhsahabas, a mega-serial based on a script written by Taslima Nasreen, was refused permission to be telecast on a popular Bengali television channel.
Before that in the same year in February, a celluloid venture by director Suman Mukhopadhyay, Kangal Malsat, was refused certification by the Central Board of Film Certification following a report by the state’s revising committee. The film apparently failed to get a clearance for dialogues that were critical about the incumbent Trinamool Congress government.
The letter, issued by a revising committee of the CBFC, had then said: “The way departure of Tata Company was uttered in the film it seemed to malign or at least look down upon a significant movement of a civic society.”
Singer-turned rebel Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman was the main character in the film that was based on a novel by Nabarun Bhattacharya. Under the chairmanship of filmmaker Haranath Chakraborty, the revising committee also had objection with “the way the honourable CM’s oath-taking ceremony was shown”. It had said: “It seems distortion of history and may hurt many common people of West Bengal and create sensation (violence).”
Chakraborty was known to be a close aide of Banerjee who used to function as a significant bridge between the state government and the artists’ pool of the Tollywood film industry. The director had moved the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) to determine the fate of the film. “This is totally ridiculous and I believe it is a politically directed move. The way this government is trying to suppress the voice of creative minds is totally uncalled for," he had lamented.
In November 2012, the Trinamool Congress-led state government had also clamped down on the screening of a film, Teen Kanya (Three Girls), for portraying the controversial Park Street rape incident. Directed by Agnideb Chattopadhyay, the screening of the film was stopped at the state-run Star Theatre in north Kolkata on the grounds that it carried some anti-state message.
Teen Kanya (Three Girls) was a story of three women characters played by Rituparna Sengupta, Ananya Chatterjee and Unnati Davara. The story revolves around the lives of three women - Aparna, Damini and Nancy. Aparna, a journalist, suspects her husband of having an affair with Damini, an IPS officer. Aparna’s husband gets kidnapped. Aparna goes on to meet Damini and the two gets into a relationship. Nancy, a "call girl", gets raped and lodges a complaint with the local police but in vain. She then approaches a news channel where Aparna is a journalist. Aparna finally helps Nancy to get justice.
In another similar move, a documentary film based on Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement was denied entry in the International Kolkata Film Festival in the same year. Sources said the festival authorities had rejected the film, Nandigram-er Chokher Pani, written by Manik Mondal, as the chief minister personally rejected the entry.
Cut to 2018, Banerjee shows a completely different approach to tackling law and order situation. One wonders why this selective posturing? The CM's defence of free speech in case of Padmaavat surely reeks of double standards.